July 31, 2015

Yesterday, I had a hill repeat workout on the schedule. I forced myself to not procrastinate and leave the house as soon as possible, because it was only getting hotter by the minute.

I rode my bike out to the Sharptown bridge and was already soaked in sweat by the time I was stowing the bike away in the woods. I did an easy mile to warm up, and then ran four repeats up and over the bridge.

It was pretty bad. I had to walk a few times. It’s just so freaking humid! I feel like I can’t catch my breath.

Anyway, I got them all done and I even made myself do the cool down mile after. Then I had a nice 5-mile pedal back to the house.

Fridays are technically rest days on this marathon training schedule. I really didn’t need to take it, considering I’d skipped Sunday and Monday earlier this week, but damn all my runs have felt like crap this week because of this weather, so I took it anyway. I just did some strength training in the house.

And that rounded out July, so it’s time for a monthly summary.

Mileage:

Week 1 (July 1-4): 14.1 miles

Week 2 (July 5-11): 19.6

Week 3 (July 12-18): 26.5

Week 4 (July 19-25): 42.5

Week 5 (July 26-31): 17

Total: 119.7 miles

Meh. I did a lot of slacking again this month! Though technically I only missed the first of the three long runs of marathon training, so that’s a plus.

As far as racing went, I finished qualifying for the summer series with my fastest 5K of the summer, and I ran that 25K trail race.

Looking ahead to August, I don’t currently have any races, but I have a lot more miles on the training plan, starting with a 13-miler this weekend. I really need to make myself stick to these things.

July 29, 2015

Today is a very sad day. My parents have to put down their 12-year-old Siberian husky, Bandit.

My dad wanted a husky after watching “Snow Dogs” approximately 2,000 times with my then 9-year-old sister. Bandit was born in Jan. 2003 and came home eight weeks later.

The first time I met him was in my parents’ kitchen. I’d just gotten home from one of my first weeks of active duty on Dover Air Force Base. He was a high-energy fuzz ball, chasing my sister’s cat, which was bigger than Bandit at the time. To this day, Bandit is still the cutest puppy I have ever seen in my life. He looked like a toy!

With my little sister on a trampoline, spring 2003.

Bandit was a really well-behaved puppy — he never tore up our stuff and was quickly house-trained — except for one thing. He loved to chew on us. He’d come flying out of nowhere with his pointy little puppy teeth and latch on to an ankle or a calf, whatever looked appealing. We called him Land Shark, the husky who loved with his teeth.

He was even adorable when he was trying to maim my hand.

Eventually he outgrew that phase. As an adult dog, Bandit was always happy to see us, but it really didn’t bother him if he didn’t see us all day. He’d go off on adventures, to the woods to get a fresh dead chicken, to my aunt’s house to harass her dog, or, for a while, to a neighbor’s house to eat cigarette butts. (Bandit loved cigarette butts and beer.) Eventually he’d come home.

Bandit was my first running buddy. Well, he never really ran with me; he wouldn’t let me near him with a leash. Instead, he’d follow me down the lane and toward the end of Schulke Road. Along the way, he’d either stop off in a neighbor’s yard to see their dog, or, if he made it all the way to the end of Schulke, he’d go up the air strip to my aunt’s house. Bandit rarely returned from my runs with me.

Bandit loved winter. When we got snow, he’d lay out in it all day and even all night, like he was a sunbather on a summer day at the beach. This time of year, he could usually be found laid out on the kitchen floor right in the stream of cold air coming from the window unit.

The only time I ever saw Bandit genuinely mad at us — when Mom got him shaved for the summer and he knew how stupid he looked. She never did that to him again.

Even after I moved out of my parents’ house for good, I considered Bandit “my” dog, until we got Pepper. And even after that, I was always so happy to see Fuzz Face strolling nonchalantly out to my car to greet me anytime I stopped by.

Today, I went to see Bandit one last time. We’re not sure exactly what’s wrong with him, but he’s clearly in pain. He whines all the time like he can’t get comfortable and he can’t put any weight on his left front leg. The vet said it might be severe arthritis or it might be cancer.

Either way, you can see in Bandit’s eyes he’s not having fun anymore. My dad said he’d hoped Bandit would make it to see another snow, but Bandit wants to go.

He still looked happy to see me today. He laid his head on my lap and even did a half-hearted growl for me when I gave him a hug goodbye.

The last place I saw him was right back in my parents’ kitchen.

I’m going to miss him. He was such a good dog. I hope there’s plenty of snow where he’s going.

Anyway… I’ve done a couple of crappy runs since I last posted. It’s gotten very hot and humid here again, so they’ve all been junk miles. Yesterday I did 4.5, and today I did a lap around the 8.3-mile loop.

July 27, 2015

I managed to keep up my morning running streak all the way through Saturday last week! I’ve kinda fallen off the wagon since then though.

Friday morning, I took Pepper for an easy lap around the 4.5-mile loop, and Saturday, I got up early to knock out another easy lap by myself around the 6.5-mile loop.

That pushed my week’s total to 42.5 miles. It’s been a while since I topped 40 miles in a week.

Later that morning, Clark and I met his coworker at the Cambridge marina, along with several of his coworker’s friends. We all went out on a boat to watch speedboat races.

I’ve never seen boat races live. It was a lot of fun! We anchored the boat right off the race course and watched all the heats.

We were out there most of the afternoon. Near the end of the day, after we’d been drinking, Clark and I had one of our worst ideas of all time: Attempting to climb a jetty made of slippery, sharp rocks, while drunk.

When we got back in the boat, we both looked like we’d been attacked from the waist down by something small, rabid and vicious. My right shin and left knee got it the worst on me. I’m sure we looked like a couple of total idiots, slipping and crashing all over those rocks! Oh well. Nothing was permanently damaged, and so far it looks like neither of us picked up an infection from the river water in all those brand new open wounds.

After the races, we got dinner at the High Spot and were home and asleep before it was even dark out. I woke up later, assuming it was close to morning, only to find it was only 11 p.m. haha.

I really wasn’t in any kind of mood to try to run Sunday, which was almost a shame, because these came in the mail for me Saturday:

New Zeros!!

I like the Fresh Foams and the Zantes I’ve been running in, but I really missed the Zeros. My old pair was more than a year old, and running even a few miles in them the last couple of times left a weird pain around my left ankle, so they had to be retired.

Instead of taking out my new shoes for a test run yesterday, I went to Oxford and St. Michaels with Clark and Pepper, stopping just about anywhere that allowed dogs. We went to The Masthead in Oxford first.

Clark’s lunch was staring at me.

Our table’s view.

Then we took the Oxford-Bellevue ferry, which I’d never ridden before, and went to St. Michaels. We had beers at the Eastern Shore Brewing Company, margaritas and guacamole at Gina’s and dinner at Foxy’s, where we were waited on by a guy neither of us had seen since high school. And Pepper, of course, attracted all kinds of attention everywhere we went.

On the way home, we stopped by to see my parents and younger sister, and then we finally came home.

Today, I was really dragging ass this morning! By the time I felt normal again, it was too hot to run. Maybe I’ll take out those Zeros for the easy 3-miler on the schedule this evening after it’s cooled off.

July 23, 2015

I’ve been pretty good about getting in my run in the mornings this week! Maybe it’ll actually become a habit again.

Today, I got up when Pepper wanted his breakfast. When he was all taken care of, I got dressed and set Clark’s Garmin for an interval workout, four half-mile repeats with a quarter-mile of rest between each, plus warm-up and cool down.

If I’d driven into town to do 800-meter repeats on the track, I’d expect to do six miles total, but since I felt like doing them on the road instead, I took the cool down a little farther and ran the 6.5-mile loop.

It was a very nice morning for a run, much better than when I ran an easy lap around that same loop two days ago. I didn’t need to carry water and/or Gatorade, even though I’d be running a lot harder.

I did an easy mile to warm up, in just under 9:00, and then I sped up for the first interval.

When measuring the intervals, the Garmin just shows which number it is (1 of 4) and how much farther I have to go to finish it; it doesn’t show time or pace. So I had no idea if I was even close to my goal of 3:30 per repeat (7:00/mile pace) while I was running them.

All four fast intervals went OK, except for some digestive cramping I was getting in the last one. I had to stop in the woods to use the bathroom after I finished it.

At that point, I had another 2.5 miles of cool down to run to get home. I was about a mile from home when I had to stop in a corn field for a second bathroom break. Not a good day for the ol’ GI tract!

I finished the entire 6.5-mile loop in 57:19, an 8:54/mile average. (That included the corn field stop, where I forgot to pause the Garmin.) My four repeats were 3:31, 3:32, 3:25 and 3:24. So, while the first couple were slow, I sped up in the last two, which is encouraging. Overall I’d call that speed workout a success.

When I was about to get in the shower, I noticed a line of what looked like huge pimples on my left thigh, about where my shorts line would have been. Chigger bites. Great. I must have picked those up when I was in the woods. Thanks a lot, cranky butt!

July 22, 2015

A cool front came through yesterday, and today was much nicer for running — so nice in fact, I took Pepper with me to the cross country trail.

The parking lot was empty when we got there, but a pickup pulled in right behind us, and out of the bed bounded two huge dogs. Unleashed, of course. Their owner asked if Pepper was friendly. In hindsight, I should have said he will shred any dog who comes near him to ribbons, which is why I keep him on a leash. Because when I said he was fine, the guy let his two dogs run over and pretty much climb all over Pepper, who might be friendly, but he sure as hell doesn’t want to be friends. The look on his face clearly said GET ME OUT OF HERE.

When we finally got those two behind us, we started down the trail. The one thing I hate about the woods this time of year is all the spider webs. I found a stick to wave around in front of my face (yes, it looks ridiculous, but I don’t care — I don’t want a mouthful of spider web.) Of course, Pepper wanted the stick. So I gave him that one, and picked up another. Which Pepper wanted. Gah.

Eventually we got that straightened out and we finished the 3-mile loop, both of us carrying a stick. When we got back home, I went upstairs and did some strength training with the weights.

July 21, 2015

I never did that 3-miler on the schedule yesterday, but this morning, I got up very early, since it was supposed to be really hot again, and knocked out the easy 6-miler on the schedule first thing.

I took my water bottle with me, with a half-and-half mix of water and Gatorade. It was as humid as ever, and I was sweating my face off the whole way, but it wasn’t such a terrible run. I did an easy lap around the 6.5-mile loop.

July 20, 2015

Friday evening, Clark and I took Pepper to a restaurant in Easton for dinner. After we’d been there a while, I took Pepper for a walk around the block, and this woman asked to pet him. That’s pretty common. But she didn’t just pet him; she was practically burying her face in the fur around his neck, and then I realized she was almost in tears. It turned out she lives in the Czech Republic and was two weeks into a three-week visit to the U.S., and so hadn’t seen her own weimaraner in two weeks. Pepper was just what she needed!

The weather had been rather pleasant around here all week, but Saturday, it had gotten hot and humid again. I did a short 3-miler on the road at home, and it was slow and awful. I couldn’t help but remind myself I’d still have more than 12 miles to run at that point the next day.

I left home that afternoon to meet Jen and her friend Niki, who I first met at this same race a year ago, in Crystal City, right outside D.C. I got there around 5, and we took the Metro into the city.

We got dinner, where I had ramen for the first time. I’ve never even had one of those 99-cent Cup o’ Noodles, even when I was a broke-ass college student. It was really good!

Niki and Jen in the ramen restaurant.

After dinner, Niki wanted to do some touristy stuff and see the Washington Monument and the White House.

Me, Jen and Niki at the Washington Monument, in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

We all kept commenting on how freaking hot it was even after the sun had gone down, how much we were sweating through our clothes just strolling around, and how much worse it was going to be the next day. I was really glad I’d signed up for the 25K! Jen and Niki were both running the 50K.

We got back to the hotel around 10:30, and I was in bed a half-hour later, with the alarm set for 5:30 a.m.

I slept pretty well Saturday night. When the alarm went off, I got up and was dressed and ready to go in about 10 minutes.

I left Crystal City around 6, for the 35-minute drive to Rosaryville State Park outside Upper Marlboro. Niki was running a little behind, so she and Jen left later. I told Jen I’d get her race bib too when I got there. (Niki hadn’t pre-registered.) Last year, the lines to pick up bibs was really long, so I didn’t want to get there too late.

It was so humid that morning, my car’s defroster was having trouble keeping the windshield clear as I pulled into the state park. A great sign!

When I got to the pavilion, I was surprised to see there really weren’t that many cars parked already, at least not compared to last year, and there wasn’t much of a line at all to pick up race bibs or register that day. But, we’d gotten an unseasonably cool day last July, compared to the boiler we were going to be dealing with this time, so it made sense.

I got Jen’s and my bibs, and our timing chips, which we had to wear on straps around our ankles. They also had to be returned after the race. It was a $35 charge if you didn’t turn yours in.

I changed out of my flip flops into my shoes. I haven’t bought trail shoes since last year – the newest pair I have are the same ones I wore in this race last year, which started giving me terrible blisters on my Achilles tendons over the winter. The Rosaryville trails aren’t at all technical though, luckily, so instead of overnighting a pair of new trail runners to my house, I just wore the New Balance Fresh Foams I got last fall.

Jen and Niki pulled in right after that. Niki got signed up, and then it was time to get this party started.

Everyone gathered on the lawn next to the pavilion for pre-race instructions and a warning to slow their pace from the start if they wanted to get to the end of whichever distance they were running. (There were also 10K and 10-mile options.)

We all had a sheen of sweat before we even started running. I didn’t look at the weather app on my phone before we started, because I really didn’t want to know, but it was probably around 80 degrees and close to 100 percent humidity when the race started just after 7.

We got the start command, and the whole crowd lurched forward down a grassy hill. At the bottom of the hill, we got on the road we’d driven to the start, which led us to the trail head. The crowd formed a single file as we started down the trail.

The trail is a roughly 10-mile loop, split in two by a road. At both road crossings, there was an aid station, so we’d hit one every five miles or so, where we’d get water, Gatorade and the typical salty or sugary food, like pretzels and gummy bears, depending on which you needed a boost of at that moment.

I carried my 22-oz. water bottle and three salt caps. I figured I’d drink the bottle completely on each trail section, get it refilled at the aid stations, take a salt cap at each station and just eat whatever they were offering, instead of carrying GUs.

This was the fourth time I’ve run these trails at Rosaryville – I’d previously done a 25K and two 50Ks – and every time before, the first 5-mile trail section flew by. Not this time! It felt like it was never going to end from the first step.

Niki ran that first section with me. Since she was doing 31 miles, she wanted to walk the uphills from the start, which sounded like a fine strategy to me.

There was a small stream crossing that was basically just a mud pit yesterday. There was no way around it, except to step right in it. A guy in front of us lost one of his shoes in the muck. My shoes got completely coated, and my socks got soaked, but at least everything stayed on.

Not too far from the end of the first section, this guy ran past me on a wide turn. I thought he was going to pass Niki too, but when the trail narrowed back to single track right after that turn, he instead got in line between her and me.

The first thing I’d noticed about him when he ran by were his shoes, or rather his lack thereof. He was wearing sandals. It turned out that was hardly the most noticeable thing about him though.

This dude STUNK. I generally am not sensitive to other people’s body odor, which comes in handy during a race on a hot day, when no one smells like a bed of roses, but the smell wafting off this guy was slamming me right in the face. It was honestly hard to breathe. I was praying he’d go around Niki, but nope, he just ran along right in front of me for what felt like forever. It was horrible.

Then I had a new but familiar concern – my butt. I hadn’t needed to go before the race started, so I was expecting it at some point, and here it was.

I knew we were getting close to the aid station, where there was supposed to be a port-o-potty, so I just kept up with Niki instead of running off trail like I wanted to.

When we got to the aid station, the 50K runners had to run a short out-and-back on the road before getting back on the trail, to get in their full distance. I told Niki I was using the bathroom and I’d meet her at the aid station after she finished her out-and-back.

Unfortunately, there was already someone in the port-o-potty and another guy waiting to use it. I got in line behind the guy, but my butt was getting impatient. I swear it can sense when it’s close to a toilet. I was so close to running off in the woods, but then the girl in the port-o-potty came out and the other guy waiting only had to pee, so I made it. I used a toilet like a civilized human being!

I felt so much better with that taken care of. At the aid station, I ate a few animal crackers, took a salt cap and got my water bottle refilled with a mix of water and Gatorade. I normally avoid sports drinks while running, because they tend to give me digestive problems, which I really don’t need any more of, but it didn’t feel like plain water was going to cut it yesterday.

I was surprised Niki hadn’t gotten back to the aid station yet. I was even more surprised when I saw Jen, who’d been behind us, finishing the out-and-back before Niki. Jen took off down the next section of the trail. Niki showed up soon after. Turned out the turn-around for the out-and-back was not well-marked and she’d run quite a bit farther than she had to.

We took off down the next section of trail, No. 2 of 3 for me. This was probably the best I felt the whole race. We caught up with Jen a little bit later. Niki ran on ahead, but I ran the rest of that section with Jen.

Jen asked me if I’d seen a guy wearing an orange shirt on the first section, and I knew immediately what she was getting at. I asked if he’d been wearing sandals. Yup. Jen had encountered BO Guy too, and had gagged on the unbelievable smell coming off him. Sir, I don’t know what homemade deodorant you’re using, if any, but when a seasoned ultra runner is offended by the smell you’re creating, you need to switch it up.

We rolled into the next aid station. One whole loop and 10 miles down! We were right around two hours into the race.

I got my bottle refilled with water and Gatorade again. I’d expected to have to force myself to finish off the bottle between aid stations, but I wound up having to ration it! I was guzzling fluids. I took another salt cap and ate some gummy bears and Twizzler bites.

Even though she’d gotten to the aid station before us, Niki went wandering by when I was about to leave, asking where the trail was haha. She has a horrible sense of direction.

I ran into the woods for my third and final trail section. I felt OK at the very beginning of that last section, but that feeling quickly faded.

I caught back up with Jen, who hadn’t lingered at the aid station as long as I had. We were doing the walk-the-uphills strategy and trying to keep some conversation going to keep our minds off how hot we were. Less than a mile from the end of that section though, I had to let her go ahead. I needed to walk more than just the uphills. I was so hot, and my legs were wearing out.

I got within earshot of the next aid station just in time to hear Jen yell to Niki, as Niki was running off back into the woods and Jen was starting her out-and-back. I waited at the aid station for Jen so I could wish her luck on the second half of her race, and I got my bottle filled with ice water for the last stretch to the finish line. After Jen had taken off back into the woods, I made the turn up the road for the end of the 25K.

It was uphill! Ughhhhh. Everyone in my line of sight was walking that uphill, so I did too.

I started running again when the road leveled out. The course then got on a dirt road through some woods. I passed everyone I’d been able to see in front of me on that dirt road.

When the woods ended, the dirt road ran through an open field in full sunlight. It’d felt hot in the woods, but it was downright unbearable in the sun. This guy came running up next to me and asked how much farther we had to go. I said it’d been three years since I’d run this, but I thought the finish line was just on the other side of another line of trees we were approaching, less than a half-mile to go.

We ran the rest of the way in together, until we got to the bottom of the grassy hill we’d run at the beginning. He dusted me on that hill haha.

And that was it! I was done. I could stop running and get in the shade.

When I ran this 25K in 2012, I finished in 2:44. I really thought I’d run about the same time this year, but I did not take into account the weather. I finished this year in 3:24:48, 40 minutes slower!

I felt like I must have been one of the last 25K finishers, but it turns out I was 39th of 81 finishers, so about halfway. The winning time was 2:09; the last 25K finisher came in at 7:19. At least I finished before the 50K winner came in at 4:03!

I was also fourth of 15 in the F 30-34 age group, and the 14th of 39 female finishers.

Considering my only goal was to get in a long run, I can write this down as a success. It might have been slow, but I got in almost 3.5 hours on my feet in heat and humidity.

Speaking of my feet, they felt pretty good, and I only had one teeny blister, on a random spot on the top of the fourth toe on my right foot. There were a couple times I’d wished I’d had real trail shoes with more traction, but for the most part, the Fresh Foams did just fine.

After I’d chilled out under the pavilion for a moment, I drenched myself with ice cold water from a garden hose and then changed into dry clothes. Not that they stayed dry. I don’t think I ever stopped sweating yesterday.

When I was running with Jen, she’d mentioned a couple times how great some watermelon would be, and I’d already told her and Niki before the race started I’d get some beers after I finished my race.

So while I was waiting for them to finish their 50Ks, I ran some errands. First stop was Dunkin’ Donuts, where I downed a Nestle Quik chocolate milk and got an iced coffee. Then I went to Safeway, where I took my sweet time picking out a container of cut watermelon, more chocolate milk, Gatorade, Larabars and a bag of ice, just because the air conditioning felt so amazing. The last stop was a liquor store for a six-pack of Blue Moon White IPAs.

When I got back to the pavilion, I thought to check the weather app. At 1 p.m., it was 93 degrees, with a “feels like” of 100, thanks to the humidity. Just gross.

I didn’t have to wait long before Niki and Jen finished, in 6:20 and 6:40 respectively. They both ran faster this year than last year, when it was much better conditions!

Niki coming to the line.

Jen finishing.

After Niki finished, I took this picture of her on a picnic table bench, declaring how much she hated running, and considering which hobby she should take up instead. I think she settled on writing romance novels.

Running is dumb.

After they’d both changed into dry clothes, it was beer time. I was a little worried the race directors would say something, since technically alcohol is not allowed in the park, but the guy running the timing software only asked if he could have one haha.

It was a good time – after the running was over!

Cheers!

Jen, Niki and me at the finish line.

I got home around 5:30, and took one of the best showers of my life. It felt so nice to scrub off multiple layers of dried-on sweaty scuzz. I was worried I was going to start smelling like BO Guy pretty soon.

Clark and I went to the Evo brewpub for dinner. We ordered a charcuterie board with three meats and three cheeses, bread, pickles, mustard, etc. The waiter asked if that was going to be it. I tried not to look offended haha. This is the appetizer, fool! The post-long run bottomless pit stomach had settled in by that time.

This morning, oddly enough, the sorest part on me is my upper back and shoulders, probably from just trying to stay upright while running up and down the hills yesterday. My legs are a little sore too. Overall I feel pretty good though! I don’t think I’ll have any foot problems like I did after this race last year either.

It’s so hot again though. I have a 3-miler on the schedule, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen.

July 17, 2015

This morning was really, really nice, in the 60s. Perfect running weather. So naturally, I lounged around and put off my run until the middle of the afternoon, when it’d warmed up into the low 80s. Makes sense!

Since it’d gotten so warm, I left Pepper at home. I did a slow lap around the 4.5-mile loop by myself.

Tomorrow, I’d like to do another short run in the morning. Sometime in the afternoon, I’m driving over to the D.C. area, and staying with Jen in the room she’s rented.

Sunday morning is the race in Rosaryville State Park. It’s going to be hot. Like, highs in the upper 90s. Since the race starts at 7 a.m. and I signed up for the 25K, I should be done before 10, before it gets too warm. And 99 percent of the race course is in the woods, so at least it’s shaded. I’m hoping to just get a decent long run out of it.

July 16, 2015

Today is my twin nephews’ 17th birthday. Seventeen!! The hell. Anyway, I hope they have a great day.

I’ve run a couple of times since I last posted Tuesday, which, since I’m still home alone with Pepper until Clark gets back tonight, means Pepper has run with me a couple of times too. I mean, I could leave him home alone, but I seem to be getting worse at ignoring the look of absolute devastation in his eyes when he realizes I’m about to leave the house without him. Oh, and the mournful howling as I walk away from the house. That is the worst.

We’ve just done two laps around the 4.5-mile loop. Yesterday was hot, even when I waited until after 6 p.m. to go, so I gave Pepper plenty of walk breaks. Today was quite a bit cooler, downright pleasant, and we ran in the morning, but Pepper seemed pretty over running, probably because this was his third day in a row.

He seemed really over it when we ran into a running irrigation system spraying water onto the road less than a mile into it. He leapt so high in the air when the water hit him, I think the leash is the only thing that kept him from flying away haha. I had to stop to catch my breath, I was laughing so hard. Pepper plus water is always funny.

But, he got his post-run treat and is snoring on the floor right now, so I think he got over it.

July 14, 2015

This morning, as soon as Pepper was done with his post-breakfast jaunt around the back yard, I put him in his harness and took him for a run.

It was warm and extremely humid, already at 6:30 a.m., but still overcast after storms passed through overnight.

It wasn’t a great run for me. I had some digestive problems — surprise, surprise — and had to stop in the woods three times in the first 3.5ish miles! Pepper was getting pretty fed up with it haha.

After the final bathroom break, we had less than two miles to go to polish off the 5.5-mile loop.

Unfortunately, Pepper needed zero bathroom breaks (there were the usual pee stops, but I’m not worried about him peeing in the utility room while I’m at work today.) I’m hoping he took care of that when he was outside after breakfast, because I really don’t feel like cleaning up retaliatory dog poop when I get home later.